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Wiregrass caps hirings with basketball coach

 Tampa Catholic's Greg Finkel, a Land O'Lakes resident, will head up the first girls team.

By IZZY GOULD
Published June 27, 2006

WESLEY CHAPEL - Wiregrass Ranch wrapped up its search for coaches in its major sports, announcing Friday that Greg Finkel will coach girls basketball.

Finkel, 34, coached Tampa Catholic the past five seasons, guiding the Crusaders to one district championship and a runnerup honor.

The Land O'Lakes resident pursued the Wiregrass opening because of its proximity to his home and the opportunity to work and coach at the same facility.

Finkel will teach driver's education and personal fitness at Wiregrass.

"Putting those together was definitely something I was interested in," Finkel said. "Throughout my career, I was never working at the same facility. Being that this was so close, a brand new program, it just had the markings for being something special."

Finkel has coached at one level or another for 14 years.

He started at Sacred Heart in Tampa, which led to an opportunity to coach at Leto. He stayed at Leto five years as the junior varsity boys coach and assistant varsity coach.

Finkel then moved on to Tampa Catholic to be a varsity head coach.

"I was pretty successful over there," Finkel said. "We played just about .500 ball throughout the five years there. I am sadly leaving Tampa Catholic. It's very difficult to run a program not being on the campus."

Finkel sees working and coaching at Wiregrass as a major advantage.

Beyond the ability to interact with students throughout the day, he can address any problems almost immediately with a stroll across campus. He's also within a few steps of the administration, making it a plus for principal Ray Bonti.

"Greg has done a tremendous job at Tampa Catholic and we expect the same great things here," Bonti said last week. "We interviewed several qualified candidates, and he stood out."

Finkel immediately has an uphill climb to build the Bulls into a winning program.

He isn't likely to see or speak with players until August unless they seek him out. Most are on summer vacation. The Bulls also are playing a varsity schedule with ninth and 10th graders.

Pasco County's basketball supplement paid $2,886 last school year.

"We understand there's a long road ahead," Finkel said. "I started with a young group of girls at Tampa Catholic. I was successful at building a program over there, and I expect to do the same over here."

--Contact Izzy Gould at igould@sptimes.com

WIREGRASS RANCH COACHES

FOOTBALL: Ricky Thomas

BASKETBALL B: Jeremy Calzone

BASKETBALL (G): Greg Finkel

BASEBALL: Chris Parrish

GOLF (B): Doug Elias

GOLF (G): Ariana Rodriguez

CROSS COUNTRY: Don Howard

SOCCER (B): David Wilson

SOCCER (F): Amanda Devona

SOFTBALL: Terra Winthrop

TRACK (G): Amanda Devona, Ariana Rodriguez

VOLLEYBALL: Tammy Williams

WEIGHTLIFTING (B): Doug Elias

[Last modified June 27, 2006, 00:28:47]